Successful wide scale agriculture in arid lands which are adjacent to unlimited supplies of seawater have always presented a perplexing problem, namely the inability to use seawater for plant growth.
Where seawater is used it is typically desalinized such as by evaporation, osmosis or other separation techniques. This separation step adds considerably to the cost of the ultimate production of the crops.
A further drawbask is one that has been discussed in my prior patents and applications and overcome by the inventions disclosed therein. When plants are placed in the soil, water and nutrients are not fully utilized because of the permeability of the soil. Thus, if water sufficiently pure for crops is generated from seawater and used to irrigate crops in the ground most of the water is wasted.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems by utilizing a modular channel concept in combination with polluted water such as saline solutions. Generally water and the air in equilibrium therewith at a first higher temperature are circulated under the floor of a channel culture array. The underside of the floor and the upper level of the water define a zone which zone is at a second lower temperature. The moisture in the air in equilibrium with the water condenses and coalesces on the underside of the floor of the modular channel array. The condensed water then permeates through the floor to the soil system supporting the plant. There is no liquid communication between the channel array and water whereby the contaminated water cannot contact the soil.
The maintenance of a reservoir of water adjacent a soil support system per se is well known. See Canadian Pat. No. 922,106, Ruthner, particularly FIG. 11. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,486,512; 3,823,508; 3,877,172; and 3,895,494 all disclose various plant systems wherein water flows through a trough or similar device for irrigation of the soil support system.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,346,029 shows in FIG. 7 a plant support system spaced apart from a reservoir of water. However even in this patent wicks are used to transfer the water directly from the reservoir to the soil support system.
Thus in the prior art the water communicates directly with the soil and any contaminants in the soil would naturally impregnate the soil.